Death toll in Uganda's Ebola outbreak rises to 87

KAMPLA, Uganda - The death toll in Uganda from an outbreak of the Ebola virus has risen to 87, with suspected cases reported outside the original area of infection, a health ministry official said Saturday.

In a statement, Francis Omaswa, director-general of Uganda's medical services, said three more Ebola deaths were reported in the last 24 hours in northern Uganda.

The Ebola outbreak was first confirmed Oct. 14 in Gulu, 225 miles north of Kampala, Uganda's capital.

But on Oct. 27, a Ugandan soldier died of the disease in Mbarara, 175 miles southwest of Kampala. Experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization have been in the town trying to determine whether there is an outbreak.

Omaswa said two health workers who cared for the first Ebola victim in Mbarara were admitted to the hospital suspected of infection Oct. 31 and between Nov. 3 and Nov. 4.

''These are just suspected cases not clinically proven,'' said Paul Kaggwa, ministry of health spokesman.

There is no medical cure for the Ebola virus but patients treated with aggressive rehydration therapy have a good chance of survival.

Of the 269 people identified as of Saturday as having been infected by the virus, 149 have recovered, Omaswa said.

Ebola, which is spread by bodily contact, can cause severe hemorrhagic fever and is often fatal. The virus' early symptoms are similar to those of flu and upset stomach - a parallel that has led to many false reports. No one knows where the virus lives between outbreaks or how the first person in an outbreak contracts it.

The strain of the virus involved in the current outbreak has been identified as Ebola Sudan, one of three strains that can infect humans. It was last detected in neighboring Sudan in 1979.